Want to start with just a battery and an inverter

[wmweis45]

I have a small cabin with 8 LED bulbs and currently no outlets. Rather than use a small generator, I want to move towards a solar panel solution, but if it is possible I would like to start simple by just using a battery and an inverter. Given my bulbs are LED, I am leaning towards an inverter that generates pure sine wave since I assume a modified sine wave inverter might cause hum in the LED bulbs. I have easy access to a battery charger, so the solar panel is not crucial initially although I want to get there.

What would be the downside of my plan of using just a Gel battery and lets say a 600w true sine wave inverter for infrequent use of some LED light bulbs. Do I need to worry about the battery getting too low? Will it damage the inverter if the battery gets discharged below a certain level?

[sdold]

Hi wmweis45, welcome to Solar Panel Talk. I moved your post here to the "Off grid" section, the other one was for reviews of a company called "First Solar", so it's an understandable mistake. Good to have you here and you should get some good advice.

[PNPmacnab]

A long time ago I just had a plug on my car that I plugged the house into. Just have a low voltage disconnect. Why not just use 12V LED. That is still what my house is. Check out a roll of strip of 12V LED with adhesive back. They work out well over a sink. I still just use a MSW inverter, your lamps won't buzz.

[Xplode]

Welcome!

There is nothing wrong with your plan if you're just using an old car battery, and are only going to run a couple bulbs for a couple hours for a couple nights over a weekend.

You will wreck the battery by discharging it with this plan since it'll take you a few days to get around to charging it. This is why I say if you've just got an old battery laying around..

If you're going to start buying components in order to build up your solar situation, then you should spend some time reading the sticky posts in this "off grid" forum. Then figure out what you want to be able to run, and sort out the math (don't worry, it's pretty easy) BEFORE you buy anything.

You're never going to go wrong with a pure sine inverter instead of a modified. LEDs probably don't actually care, but some other things thing will. Just don't get sucked into buying some 1500 watt or 4000 watt unit because "bigger is better!". They use up your battery doing nothing so smaller is often better, especially if you're not powering much.


read up and then ask away if you've got questions!

[wmweis45]

Thanks for all the replies. What if the battery was a deep cycle battery instead of an old car battery? Deep cycle batteries (I have an AGM battery) are designed to discharge. I guess I wanted to make sure the inverter would not get compromised if the battery ran down too far. Again, right now my load is really light but in the future that will change a little and I will consider solar then. (Update - my Power Tech-On Pure Sine Wave Power Inverter 600W just arrived. I see in the manual that it has under voltage protection set at 10vDC, so perhaps my risk is limited to damaging the battery if I over discharge it (assuming a car battery).

[wmweis45]

PNPmacnab, we have this cabin on our back 40, and a few years ago I gutted the upper level, insulated with Foam It Green, and installed bass wood tongue and groove. Prior to installing the wood, I wired a few outlets and installed 4 small wall fixtures. I ran wiring outside to be able to reach a small generator which was handy during the construction. I agree that having 12vdc bulbs would simplify things, but I am committed to providing 120v at this point. Thanks!!

[Mike90250]

Car or deep cycle battery, both will be destroyed by sitting discharged. Deep cycle batteries are only designed for repeated discharges down to 70% of capacity, daily. Deeper than that, and you quickly shorten the battery life. ( car batteries take a 1% discharge, down to 99% of capacity and are recharged in minutes as the engine runs.)

DoD_vs_CycleLife.gif

[wmweis45]

Did not know that Mike90250, thanks!

[Xplode]

Does your inverter have a remote on/off function? I've found it very handy to wire that to an easy access switch in the main living area. Makes it much easier to turn off at night and on/off during the day of your just need AC for a short period. Helps keep the drain down.

[wmweis45]

Yes it does, good tip, thanks.

[wmweis45]

I have a Renogy Lithium Ion Phosphate 50ah battery and a 600 Watt Pure sign inverter. Eventually I will have either a hydro or solar solution charging the batteries but for the limited use I currently have I will charge the battery with a NOCO G3500. I want to place the battery and the inverter in a small space below the steps. Do I need to worry about how close the Lithium battery is to the Inverter? I went with Lithium specifically to avoid gases resulting from charging. (I also picked up a DC breaker and a Renogy battery monitor display).

[Mike90250]

A 50ah battery is not much power, if you figure only 80% of it is usable.

Is the NOCO G3500 recommended for charging the Reology Li battery ? If the charger does not have the smarts to charge Li batteries (there are several varities of Li batteries - no single consumer charger is suitable for all of them

[wmweis45]

Hi Mike, I currently only have some LED lights in the cabin, so for my immediate needs 50ah is fine for something that will get me through a weekend. The NOCO was recommended by a Renogy person and does have a setting specific to Li batteries.

What I am really curious about is how to combine all the components in a small space. I have the battery and the inverter with a few small add-ons like the inline fuse and the sensor for the Remody battery status display. Specifically the Li battery and the Inverter. Can they be side by side?

[Mike90250]

As long as there is air circulation so the inverter and charge controller can stay cool, it should not matter